Capricorn is the symbol of the ultimate goal to which everything aims, of the top craved by the climber and the ambitious man; the symbol of the abyss at the base of which all that tends towards the bottom accumulates.

In our examination of the bas reliefs in the gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris we reached the sign of Virgo, near the entrance. Now we need to depart again and start the journey from the opposite part of the portal, examining the two bas reliefs referred to the sign of Libra. We will move back towards the entrance of the cathedral whilst examining the following signs.

We have seen that in the sign of Gemini those couples of opposites are established, the «individual directions» that help man orient himself in the world. In the sign of Cancer the beings choose the place where to be, their « abode’ along any directions and between any couple of opposites.

We have already said that we intend to follow the journey of the 12 signs of the zodiac from the point of view of the ‘traveler’. The sign of Aries is the archetype of any possible beginning and it draws its symbolic meanings from the legend of the Golden Fleece, from the lamb carried on the shoulders by the god Hermes, from the sacrifice of the lamb to announce or to propitiate a period of resurrection and renewal.

The ‘symbolic animals’ by definition are those that populate the zodiac, a word that comes from the Greek ‘zodiakos’, i.e. ‘zoon diakos’, ‘wheel or circle of animals’.
Since the dawn of time men who looked at the sky saw (or rather projected) mythological animals and events on the celestial constellations.

The ancient authors who understood this divine Art veiled spiritual truths using chemical terminology and chemical truths using theological references, so that without the master key of correspondence, ‘as above, so below,’ it is difficult to know where to begin. There are secrets on both sides of the equation...

In this work the Author boldly elaborates on the Jungian interpretation of Zozimos of Panopolis’ writings, in particular the Peri Aretes; he refers to the fundamental interaction between alchemy and psychoanalysis studied by C. G. Jung. According to the latter Alchemy and psychology are linked by mutually fertile hermeneutic interactions. In particular, the Peri aretes and the visions of Zosimos are the subject of his Alchemical studies. The Author enriches this study by introducing the alchemic tradition in the different western historical-cultural contexts and by comparing them to the postulates of Indian and Chinese tradition. The study is particularly relevant because it explains the occult meaning of many archetypes of the individual and collective oneiric dimension. It is very useful to understand the inexhaustible millenary research on the real alchemic dimension.

Alchemy > The Grail of the Alchemist and the speculative Worker by (3792 reads)

The spiritual Alchemist and the speculative Worker have a postulate in common. The former calls it: ‘the transmutation of metals’ (to purify one’s character); the latter calls it: ‘the smoothing of the stone’ (to sublimate one’s character). This means to use different ‘instruments’ in order to reach the same goal.

Alchemy > Illnesses Of The Soul And ‘Illnesses’ Of The Gods: The Marks Of Time by (3796 reads)

‘I had a dream: I imagined I was a soul that has come back from the ancient Greek world, the soul of an initiate to the mysteries of Dionysus who has been given the chance to cast a glance at the modern world. What would strike me most? Which transformations of our way of living and feeling would attract my attention? Some ‘diseases’ are described; in the popular imagery they were suffered by three gods of the Greek pantheon, Dionysus, Mercury and Apollo. The modern world has ‘forgotten’ the intelligence of the heart; it has been replaced by empty sentimentality. The ability to interiorize experiences has been sacrificed to the myth of speed. The riddance of death and of the relationship with the matter condemns western civilization to lose any contact with the Beauty and the mystery of the world, replaced by false rationality.’

Mask and Face meet like hostile enemies in a pressing dialogue. The result is a contrast between the search for unity and Truth and the manifold conflicting needs in our hearts. We talk about the function of Tragedy and Mysteries in the ancient world, the Dionysian enthousiasmos opposed to the ‘enthusiasm’ of the masses manipulated by the media. A double beheading is necessary in order to gain the ‘intelligence of the heart’…